TG.com rides shotgun in Fiat’s 21.7-litre demon

Behold, the aircraft-engined 1908 ‘Mephistopheles’, built to break records and scare humans

It will come as no surprise to you that the SB4 requires a more complicated start-up procedure than jumping in via keyless entry and pressing a big red starter button. Or indeed, cranking a starter motor with a key.

Fiat's stubby-fingered agent of SB4 engineering, Gianfranco Dazia, needs around 20 minutes to prep the speed-demon into life. First, he sponges the engine down with soapy water "to stop it exploding into a ball of flames", before adding small drops of fuel into the carburettors and lining up the pistons into a precise position.